The campaign, a joint venture with independent charity Crimestoppers, comes following a number of incidents last year which cause power disruption for nearly 37,000 people in West Yorkshire and Stockton-on-Tees.
The scheme will run across a 25-mile radius spanning both affected areas and use online channels such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, to ask people for anonymous information about the criminals who are targeting their community.
Northern Powergrid’s vulnerable assets manager Nigel Walker said: “Metal theft crime is hugely disruptive and affects community life in so many different ways. We strive to keep the lights on and work really hard to get them back on as quick and safely as possible for our customers.
“We want local communities to join us and make a stand against the criminals targeting their area,” he added. “By working together with residents and local partners we can help prevent further metal theft crime and stop more power cuts affecting community life, local businesses and the economy.”
Electricity North West (ENWL) announced on Monday that metal theft in the north west of England has fallen by 74 percent in three years.
The network said the decrease is as a result of improved security, collaboration with local police, new marking technologies to trace stolen metal, and changes in the law meaning scrap metal can no longer be sold for cash.
New figures show there were 153 metal thefts reported across the North West in the past year, down from almost 600 in 2012.
ENWL’s head of engineering Steve Cox said: “Stealing from the power network is extremely dangerous and it can also have an impact on the power supplies to homes and businesses and cause thousands of pounds worth of damage.
“Would-be thieves are realising that we’ve made it harder to steal from our network and harder to sell it on. As well as risking their lives on a network that operates up to 132,000 volts, they’re also risking prosecution as we continue to provide evidence to the police for prosecutions too.”
In July last year, the Home Office and Department for Transport announced it would invest £500,000 into the Metal Theft Taskforce, which aims to enforce laws surrounding illegal metal dealing.